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To Tune the Beast
WELCOME TO CORUSCAR, WHERE MUSIC AND MAGIC INTERTWINE
It's 1928 in Coruscar, a multi-species nation founded by the Cores, colossal, crystalline manticores called monsters by their godlike creators, but revered by Humanity for their magic—the empathic ‘affinity’ they can impart to others—and for the captivating music made by their spines. On the eve of the country’s Bicentennial, the utopia imagined by the Cores has been warped by a tyrannical elite of Humans dedicated to preserving the barrier not only between 'adepts' and 'common-sensors' but between the High Music of the nobility and People’s Music. Centuries of careful cultivation of affinity have hardly translated into a society free from oppression.
Mica Kalekai, a rakish but earnest young aristocrat, has chosen two dangerous vocations at this volatile time: an apprentice Tuner of the Beasts, and a promoter of the Afterdark—the People’s Music she loves. Mica’s privilege as a Tuner depends on her renunciation of all emotional attachment, but she becomes entangled with the lives of people who will alter the course of Coruscar’s history: a singer destined to be a martyr, the revolutionaries of The Absent Root, and most perilously of all, Chalcy Greenglass, an irresistible Afterdarker determined to possess, at any cost, the High Music forbidden to her.
Many forces seek to direct the future of Coruscar—dead as well as living. But the rebellion of the Beasts everyone has taken for granted will prove the most transformative of all.
TO TUNE THE BEAST, the first book in the Coruscar duology, is the debut novel by Sun Hesper Jansen, author of the poetry and artwork collection Fairy of Disenchantment.
It's 1928 in Coruscar, a multi-species nation founded by the Cores, colossal, crystalline manticores called monsters by their godlike creators, but revered by Humanity for their magic—the empathic ‘affinity’ they can impart to others—and for the captivating music made by their spines. On the eve of the country’s Bicentennial, the utopia imagined by the Cores has been warped by a tyrannical elite of Humans dedicated to preserving the barrier not only between 'adepts' and 'common-sensors' but between the High Music of the nobility and People’s Music. Centuries of careful cultivation of affinity have hardly translated into a society free from oppression.
Mica Kalekai, a rakish but earnest young aristocrat, has chosen two dangerous vocations at this volatile time: an apprentice Tuner of the Beasts, and a promoter of the Afterdark—the People’s Music she loves. Mica’s privilege as a Tuner depends on her renunciation of all emotional attachment, but she becomes entangled with the lives of people who will alter the course of Coruscar’s history: a singer destined to be a martyr, the revolutionaries of The Absent Root, and most perilously of all, Chalcy Greenglass, an irresistible Afterdarker determined to possess, at any cost, the High Music forbidden to her.
Many forces seek to direct the future of Coruscar—dead as well as living. But the rebellion of the Beasts everyone has taken for granted will prove the most transformative of all.
TO TUNE THE BEAST, the first book in the Coruscar duology, is the debut novel by Sun Hesper Jansen, author of the poetry and artwork collection Fairy of Disenchantment.
- GenresFantasy
666 pages, Paperback
First published February 12, 2024
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Sun Hesper Jansen
2 books3 followersSun Hesper Jansen (they/all) is an unreliable narrator with shapeshifting tendencies based in Madison, Wisconsin. Their work is inspired by magic, mythology, music, and the natural world. They are the author of the poetry collection Fairy of Disenchantment, the fantasy novel To Tune the Beast, and their work has appeared in several anthologies and online journals. They also blog on/as creative therapy for Multiple Sclerosis at Fairy of Disenchantment (A Literary Life with MS).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 14, 2024
The soul of this book lies in the wild concept that music can and does change everything. It’s also more than that. Love, death, attachment and the meaning of existence, swarm this novel through the vividly painted and highly likeable cast of creatures.
To Tune The Beast, is speculative fiction at its finest. Written dauntlessly, we find ourselves in a world that is Coruscar. Wherein we meet the Cores; curious beasts with humorous, macabre at times, multi-dimensional personalities. Coruscar compares in many ways to our own world, as the novel addresses major social issues including: the price paid for one’s choice and actions and the nature of gender and its ultimate irrelevance. We progress on to heavier subjects about consciousness, alternate realities and what really matters in this concept of existing. This is all done with a superb fluent writing style, but one that is reader-friendly and free of author ego-rumination. We’re thoroughly in Coruscar from the moment we step foot there.
If you are a fan of speculative fiction, you will be aware of how much of the genre is based upon creating great questions and how the creatures conceived by such authors, oft become the lightning rod for such speculative journeyings. The Cores are such creatures, they are part oracle, part fool, with the influence of humanity and the strangeness that is their wild heart.
Coruscar, being a mythical place, contains both Cores, created by the Vah, Gods of Coruscar and humans. Finding themselves among humans, the Cores become part of an orchestrated machine in the most literal sense. With almost a fervor centered around music and its performance, the Cores possess spines on their bodies that become the swell of Coruscar symphonies. This is at the center of Coruscar society; a world given over to the absolute adoration of musicality. For those unable to partake, they must find solace in the After Dark, where High Music is against the law.
The Absent Root is a movement that fights the inequity of who are permitted to play High Music (and those who are punished by death for trying). It is also a haven for those natural musicians who are forbidden to play and yet live to play. The cast of characters are an infectious collection of UNstereotyped musicians and tuners (of said scales) intimately affected by Coruscar’s mandates.
The genre of speculative fiction is freed of former constraints when it’s written by a gender-fluid, bisexual author and with the heart of Coruscar full of really well mapped storylines and relationships, you have everything you could hope for in a single book. As much as this is a journey of discovery and rising-up against tyranny, it’s also about growing up and forging destinies. As the reader you will find homages to other groundbreakers like Charlie Jane Anders and Rebecca Roanhorse but this is also very much an original piece in its own right. Sun Hesper Jansen has more than earned their seat at the SF table. I’m completely hooked. If you love SF this will be your most valuable acquisition for 2024.
To Tune The Beast, is speculative fiction at its finest. Written dauntlessly, we find ourselves in a world that is Coruscar. Wherein we meet the Cores; curious beasts with humorous, macabre at times, multi-dimensional personalities. Coruscar compares in many ways to our own world, as the novel addresses major social issues including: the price paid for one’s choice and actions and the nature of gender and its ultimate irrelevance. We progress on to heavier subjects about consciousness, alternate realities and what really matters in this concept of existing. This is all done with a superb fluent writing style, but one that is reader-friendly and free of author ego-rumination. We’re thoroughly in Coruscar from the moment we step foot there.
If you are a fan of speculative fiction, you will be aware of how much of the genre is based upon creating great questions and how the creatures conceived by such authors, oft become the lightning rod for such speculative journeyings. The Cores are such creatures, they are part oracle, part fool, with the influence of humanity and the strangeness that is their wild heart.
Coruscar, being a mythical place, contains both Cores, created by the Vah, Gods of Coruscar and humans. Finding themselves among humans, the Cores become part of an orchestrated machine in the most literal sense. With almost a fervor centered around music and its performance, the Cores possess spines on their bodies that become the swell of Coruscar symphonies. This is at the center of Coruscar society; a world given over to the absolute adoration of musicality. For those unable to partake, they must find solace in the After Dark, where High Music is against the law.
The Absent Root is a movement that fights the inequity of who are permitted to play High Music (and those who are punished by death for trying). It is also a haven for those natural musicians who are forbidden to play and yet live to play. The cast of characters are an infectious collection of UNstereotyped musicians and tuners (of said scales) intimately affected by Coruscar’s mandates.
The genre of speculative fiction is freed of former constraints when it’s written by a gender-fluid, bisexual author and with the heart of Coruscar full of really well mapped storylines and relationships, you have everything you could hope for in a single book. As much as this is a journey of discovery and rising-up against tyranny, it’s also about growing up and forging destinies. As the reader you will find homages to other groundbreakers like Charlie Jane Anders and Rebecca Roanhorse but this is also very much an original piece in its own right. Sun Hesper Jansen has more than earned their seat at the SF table. I’m completely hooked. If you love SF this will be your most valuable acquisition for 2024.
March 15, 2025
A lavish literary fantasy with romance and political intrigue.
The cores, mythical beasts with crystal spines, were created by the Vah (the gods) for their amusement. But when the Vah became bored with them, the beasts were left neglected. The cores escaped and formed an alliance with the humans. Together they formed Coruscar, but their vision for this new place became warped through political wrangling.
There are a lot of rules in Coruscar, but our characters don’t seem to want to follow them. Meanwhile, the beasts whose crystal spines—when properly tuned—can be used as a musical instrument in symphonies, are forming their own plan. And music is the key to everything.
The world-building in this novel is astounding. Rich inventiveness mixes with atmospheric detail to create scenes that feel completely authentic. The story follows a diverse cast of characters who all have a small or large part to play in an imminent rebellion. It’s a mark of a good writer when every character feels realised as they move through shadowy music venues and dreamscapes alike. The story is slow-paced and character-driven, but any scene that involves the cores is terribly exciting.
The author’s love of music is like honey poured over this novel. The atmosphere created is palpable. This novel achieves what any great high fantasy novel reaches for: to offer a complete escape to the reader from the real world, while also offering political commentary. I highly recommend this novel to fans of Ursula K. Le Guin.
The cores, mythical beasts with crystal spines, were created by the Vah (the gods) for their amusement. But when the Vah became bored with them, the beasts were left neglected. The cores escaped and formed an alliance with the humans. Together they formed Coruscar, but their vision for this new place became warped through political wrangling.
There are a lot of rules in Coruscar, but our characters don’t seem to want to follow them. Meanwhile, the beasts whose crystal spines—when properly tuned—can be used as a musical instrument in symphonies, are forming their own plan. And music is the key to everything.
The world-building in this novel is astounding. Rich inventiveness mixes with atmospheric detail to create scenes that feel completely authentic. The story follows a diverse cast of characters who all have a small or large part to play in an imminent rebellion. It’s a mark of a good writer when every character feels realised as they move through shadowy music venues and dreamscapes alike. The story is slow-paced and character-driven, but any scene that involves the cores is terribly exciting.
The author’s love of music is like honey poured over this novel. The atmosphere created is palpable. This novel achieves what any great high fantasy novel reaches for: to offer a complete escape to the reader from the real world, while also offering political commentary. I highly recommend this novel to fans of Ursula K. Le Guin.
January 4, 2026
This is a unique and wonderful book that is filled to the brim with music and magic. Coruscar is a world in which music is supreme and forms the rules and conventions of society. At its centre are 4 Cores, strange, giant creatures with musical spines that require tuning by Tuners and their apprentices before they can dazzle the human population with their music. This is an inventive world, created effortlessly (or so it seems), with a full complement ofinteresting, daring, dastardly and amusing characters, all trying to make their way in a world that may not want them to reach their full potential. This is a world in which gender is fluid and sexuality is unashamedly expressed. At its heart are Mica, an apprentice tuner and Chalcy, an extraordinary musician. Their relationship is a forbidden one but one that also plays out against a backdrop of history being made. I cared deeply about these characters, but also about many others, all of whom are three-dimensional and uniquely described.
This is a book unlike any other I have read and I marvelled at the author's creativity and their obvious knowledge of and love for music.
Read this for a thrilling ride through a whimsical and wonderful world that is like no other book you will read.
This is a book unlike any other I have read and I marvelled at the author's creativity and their obvious knowledge of and love for music.
Read this for a thrilling ride through a whimsical and wonderful world that is like no other book you will read.
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June 25, 2024Sunshine Jansen ’93
Author
From the author:
In a society founded by creatures made of music and magic, whose ideals of peace and empathy have been warped by a tyrannical human elite, the lives of a thrill-addicted Tuner and the outlaw Composer she loves are swept up in the rebellion of the Beasts they have taken for granted.
Author
From the author:
In a society founded by creatures made of music and magic, whose ideals of peace and empathy have been warped by a tyrannical human elite, the lives of a thrill-addicted Tuner and the outlaw Composer she loves are swept up in the rebellion of the Beasts they have taken for granted.
June 21, 2024
This is my second time reading To Tune the Beast. The first time I went too fast, carried with the music. This time I'm trying to slow down and I've reestablishmy appreciation for the world SHJ has created. I like that they took the time to hold the button (yes, this is a dated top gear reference to a conversation about car chases in film where no one explains that you have to hold the traction control button for 10 seconds). The world feels well lived in, like you could visit it tomorrow. There is a lot of story here and the weaving of music throughout, even in casual curses, is wonderful. The author's love of music is evident. The characters are compelling and I'm enjoying discovering them, and their nuances, again. It's tempting to name my next cat Garanat but thinking about the character I don't feel that's a good idea. I would definitely like to experience some of the compositions the way characters do in the story, what an experience.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews